Justice Farrukh Irfan case in SJC: Council can’t summon retired judges, says CJP

Monitoring report

ISLAMABAD: The five-judge council, led by CJP Saqib Nisar, rejected the LHC judge’s plea to be summoned in the witness box to testify his affidavit.

“We will not summon retired judges. You may yourself ask for appearance before the council,” Justice Saqib Nisar said to LHC Judge Farrukh Irfan’s attorney Hamid Khan. Former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry on Tuesday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for the defence of Lahore High Court (LHC) Judge Farrukh Irfan, whose name appeared in the Panama Papers leaks.

Another LHC retired judge Asad Munir also appeared to testify his affidavit before the SJC. The council wondered why the LHC judge was producing lawyers as witnesses before the council. All the witnesses confirmed that they were unaware of the offshore business of the LHC judge.

Likewise, the council asked Justice Irfan’s brother to submit a list of all reported cases overseen by him as a lawyer in the LHC. The LHC judge’s legal team said that Iftikhar Chaudhry would appear as a defence witness on January 9.